Croatia's economic sentiment strongly improved in February 2023, reaching the highest level since the start of 2022, on the back of industry confidence, a European Commission survey showed on Monday.

This month, Croatia’s Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) increased by four points from January to 109.2.

Industry confidence saw the highest increase (+8.1 points), its highest level since June 2022. Retail confidence went up by 3.5 points, consumer confidence by three points, construction confidence by 2.9 and services confidence by 2.8 points.

The Employment Expectations Indicator (EEI) increased by five points to 114.3, while the Economic Uncertainty Indicator (EUI) fell by 4.2 points to -0.2.

In the euro area, the ESI fell by 0.1% in February, while in the EU it stayed the same as in January.

Services confidence fell by 0.9 points on both areas, while industry confidence fell by 0.7 points in the euro area and by 0.5 in the EU.

On the other hand, consumer confidence increased by 1.7 points in the euro area and by 1.5 in the EU, retail confidence increased by 0.6 points in the euro area and by 0.7 in the EU, and construction confidence increased by 0.4 points in the euro area, while staying the same in the EU.

The EEI increased by 0.3 points in the euro area and by 0.4 in the EU, while the EUI fell by 2.9 points in the euro area and by 2.5 points in the EU.